Fragile Travelers

Airlines Working To Ensure Your Pet Is A Repeat Customer

July 16, 1995|By Kathleen Furore. Special to the Tribune.

When Razmataz was a kitten, she flew coach from Boston to Mishawaka, Ind., with her owner, Christine Trippel.

"The vet gave her some pills, so she was very relaxed. And she fit in a small carrier I could put under the seat," says Trippel, a Mishawaka resident. "It was really quite easy, and we had no problems with the airline. In fact, Raz preferred flying to driving."

Raz's experience is not unusual. Despite the spotlight shone on travel mishaps, most pets who fly the friendly skies land safe and sound, according to Kathi Travers, director of exotic animals and animal transportation for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"Over three-quarters of a million animals fly each year without a problem. That's very important to note," says Travers, who has shipped animals at New York's Kennedy International Airport. "The airlines are not insensitive people who don't give a damn."

Most airlines take great pains to ensure their furry passengers fly as safely as their human ones. "Since animals cannot speak up for themselves and require special care, employees involved in handling them receive special training, developed with lots of input from our friends at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals," American Airlines Chairman Robert Crandall explained in a recent issue of the in-flight magazine American Way.

As American Airlines spokesman Gus Whitcomb says: "There are just a handful of incidents that occur each year. While that might statistically be insignificant, one pet injury is one injury too many."

There are many reasons pet injuries-though rare-occur, said Carl Kole, a staff representative for United Airlines and chairman of the Air Transportation Association's Live Animal Board.

"We do have some employee error. I would be lying if I said we didn't," Kole says. In 1990, for example, 24 animals flying to San Diego through Chicago died when the plane had mechanical difficulties and returned to a gate staffed by people unaware the animals were on board. "It was a warm day, and the plane sat for two hours while mechanics worked on it. But no one got the animals out," Kole says. "We discovered we had no process in place to deal with that kind of situation. So we set up a process as a result of that incident."

But Kole notes United has found most animals die from too much medication.

"If we have an animal dead on arrival, we go through a whole process and even perform an autopsy," he says. "And for the last five years, the leading cause of death, in our experience, has been oversedation."

United's air travel tips say sedation is not advised because the effects of tranquilizers on animals at high altitudes are unpredictable. Passengers should consult a veterinarian, as Trippel did for Raz, before sedating pets, United says.

Other factors that contribute to animals' discomfort and occasional death: an inability to withstand the stress of air travel and an illness or disease exacerbated by flight, Kole says.

Pug nose pets such as bulldogs, for example, are not good air travelers because their air passages close down if they become hot and excited, Kole said. "Under the best of circumstances, taking animals away from their natural environment creates stress," he says. "They get excited and try to get out of their shipping container."

Bird owners should invest in a pre-flight wing-clipping to prevent problems if the bird escapes, the ASPCA says.

Responsible pet owners can minimize the risk of discomfort and death for their animals by taking a few pre-flight steps, the experts say. First, decide if you really want your pet as your traveling companion.

"If you do want to take your pet, visit the vet and make sure it is completely healthy and not susceptible to any breathing disorders before you even book your flight," Whitcomb advises. American, United and the ASPCA advise getting a health certificate from a veterinarian. And animals must be at least eight weeks old before flying, the airlines say.

"Plan your trip with your pet's convenience, not yours, in mind," Whitcomb stresses. "Simply showing up at the airport and putting the animal in the kennel there for the first time is not fair to the pet. Safety and stress are not interrelated-travel is stressful, whether it's in a car, train or airplane. Your dog would rather be home digging in the yard for a bone."

Acclimating pets to their in-flight quarters is another important step, Travers says. The ASPCA recommends putting animals in their shipping crates before departure so they are used to the space before they fly. Whitcomb says owners should buy a traveling kennel at least two weeks in advance.

"First put something familiar in it and let the animal walk in and out. Then put the pet in with the door closed. And finally, drive the pet around in the kennel in the car so it gets used to motion and learns how to balance so the flight is not the first time it has those sensations," Whitcomb says.